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John Hickenlooper DNC speech (text)

We've still got a lot of ground to cover as a country, but we are coming back. Not as fast as we want or need, but unlike four years ago, we are finally moving in the right direction. I know it's hard right now for a lot of people. And I've been there. Like too many Americans today, I was laid off and out of work for two years during the last really bad recession in 1986. So we started a brewpub. We were turned down by 32 banks and scores of investors. My own mother wouldn't invest. But we got there, because like so many other things in life, our business was not just me. It was we. We worked 70 hours per week. We drafted the business plan with a librarian from the Denver Public Library. We secured a development loan from the city. My landlord invested. My Little League baseball coach invested. We worked long hours. It was "we," not just "me."

In Colorado, we know that western history is not just about rugged individuals; it's also about communities coming together to raise barns, build schools and, yes, to help one another. Colorado and the United States are places that will be defined more by their future than by their past. The president knows this. He knows that to move our country forward, it takes "we" and not just "me." My mother, the lone Democrat in a family of Republicans, was widowed twice and raised four kids on her own. She used to say, "You can't always control what life gives you, but you can control how you respond." President Obama inherited many crises, among the worst any President has faced, and in every case he's responded with optimism, compassion and courage. He provided hope when there was none. And he has transformed that hope into a plan rooted in reality.

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It's hard work, and it takes time. But it's working. He understands that America is indeed a collection of talented, self-motivated individuals competing in a marketplace. But it's more than that; it's also a community that believes in the common good. As another skinny Democrat with a funny last name, I was proud to host the convention in Denver that nominated President Obama four years ago. I am proud to support his re-election and ask that you join me—well, we—in moving Colorado and America forward. We need to finish what we started.